A year and a half a go I tied the knot with the finest lady on this planet. We spent the honeymoon in Vegas at the very classy Vdara Hotel & Spa and had a fantastic stay. Unfortunately that stay was cut short due to a family emergency. We wanted to make up for that shortened honeymoon so we booked another trip to Vegas a year later on our 1st anniversary. This time we chose the Planet Hollywood (PH) Westgate Tower. We chose the PH because the architecture looked so cool and the suites looked spacious and nice. We couldn’t have picked a worse place to spend a classy, quiet and relaxing 2nd honeymoon.

Smokers

From the second we arrived we were not impressed with the PH Tower Westgate. The PH Tower Westgate is a smoke free facility, but apparently only inside the building. When we got there, we had to make our way through and around about 20 people smoking outside the front door. “Excuse me, hack hack, cough…” There was always a big group of smokers in that entrance, and also a group by the entrance from the parking garage.

Trying to enjoy some fresh air by the swimming pool was just as bad. Everyone at the pool was smoking. We moved our spot several times but just couldn’t get away from the smoke. When we asked the pool staff about the facility being smoke free, the look on their faces seemed as if we’d asked them to explain quantum physics.

No Class

The clientele of the PH Tower Westgate is best described as “Jersey Shore meets Animal House.” Walking through the lobby or hanging out around the pool one can’t help overhear profanity laced conversations from the loud and obnoxious crowd. Just what the wife and I were looking for on a romantic getaway. The place is NSFK (not safe for kids). We were particularly impressed by the classless guy who walked into the hotel lobby for the first time, dropped his luggage, threw his arms up in the air and yelled for all to hear, “I smell pussy!” Fantastic. Way to go buddy. Why don’t you go get some more tattoos or something?

Two girls (not ladies) sitting next to us at the pool were telling two guys (between cigarette puffs) they just met, how many people they’ve slept with. That was great. Loved hearing that. And hear it we could, because they had to yell it loud enough to be heard over the insanely loud rave and rap music being played poolside.

Pool

PH Tower Pool – click to zoom

Speaking of the pool… The pool itself was great. There are many neat bungalows and places to soak up the Nevada sun. Bring your ear plugs or your iPod though. If you want a calm and relaxing time sitting by the pool, this is not the place for you. Thud thud thud thud thud… The pounding of the fake drums and pitch corrected vocals constantly assaulting my ears nearly drove me to get in the elevator of the tower, go to the 60th floor and jump off to my death. I’m not sure how many times I can hear the same damn Lady Gaga song in three days, but I guess the count is about 100 billion. By the end of the three days, we knew all the spots in the pool areas that were farthest away from the speakers.

And remember the classless people I talked about earlier? What a time at the pool, watching them grope and hump each other in the water. Somebody hose them down and send them off to get more tattoos.

PH Tower Westgate Suite – click to zoom

Suites

I’ll talk about something positive now, the suites. Our suite was quite comfortable. I particularly liked the floor to ceiling window which had a nice view of resorts I would have rather been staying at like the Wynn. There was some cheesy “Hollywood” artwork on the walls, but that’s to be expected. The 42″ flat screen TV was nice.

The bed was large and comfortable. The lighting around the bed area was cool, with all sorts of ways to configure it for setting the mood.

The suite had a small kitchenette with a sink, coffee maker, dishes, cupboards etc. The appliances were stainless steel.

Conclusion

I try to keep all of my reviews positive, but in this case I simply couldn’t do it. Other than the suite itself, the PH Westgate was a big disappointment. My lovely lady and I were really unimpressed with our stay, and completely dumbfounded by the classlessness of the resort guests. I use plenty of “adult” words myself and even I was offended by the guests’ language, and their behavior.

If you are traveling to Vegas for a golf trip and you are only going to be in the suite for a short time, perhaps the PH would be fine. But if you are going there for a quiet, relaxing vacation in Vegas by the pool, I’d look elsewhere.

Stick to golf Tony. Not hotel reviews. It is Vegas. I appreciate the fact that you are looking for a nice quite place to spend time with your lady but Vegas is Vegas. I have stayed at many places including the Wynn and although a bit more upscale, I also stayed at PH in September and it was nice not walking through a casino to get to my room, the casino was fun, the folks that worked there were nice and the rooms were great.

The people you overheard, smoking outdoors or yelling profanity are not controlled by the hotel. That wouldn’t be the American way would it?? Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for the comments David. They are always welcomed. The point is that the crowd this place draws is like that. Sure Vegas is Vegas. There are CLASSY and quiet places in Vegas, like I mentioned in the Vdara, to go which don’t have that demographic. No casino or smoke there either.

I don’t agree with David. You may not have been there for golf but these places need to know how the blog industry is exploding. I’ve already gotten some push back on our site for a facility’s less-than-stellar performance. They need to understand that they are ALWAYS being evaluated. Finally, if I do take a golfing trip to Las Vegas I’ve learned of one place to avoid and I appreciate it.